This week's theme is Top Ten Authors I REALLY want to meet. Because some of my favorites are sadly not with us anymore, I broke my list down into two parts: 7 authors I hope to meet someday, and 3 authors that I hope to meet someday on another plane of existence.
Here we go (in no particular order):
The author of the Squire's Tales series, he is one of my favorite people. Not just because of his writing, but also because his stories are so full of empathy, and genuine love for the legends he adapts. I think we would have a lot of Arthurian nerdiness to talk about. I emailed with him briefly on behalf of a book festival a couple of years ago, and he seemed very friendly and fun.
Marissa Meyer
I only recently discovered her Lunar Chronicles series, and it was love at first read. Those books are a storyteller's dream (how many books do Easter eggs for fairy tale fanatics?!). She is very active on social media and seems like a nice person. There is a lot of love for her from the fandom, and she appreciates it.
Neil Gaiman
Yeah, I know, me and another three million people. I actually met him once, and we had lunch together with the Storytelling department at ETSU when he was on the Unchained Tour. He was very friendly and polite, and a great storyteller. I was so incredibly star-struck that I completely forgot to ask him to sign the book that was in my purse the entire time! My dad will never let me live that one down. I'm waiting for a second chance.
Christopher Moore
Lamb is probably one of my top 3 favorite books ever. And that's saying something, if you look at my Goodreads page... I went to his book signing in Ann Arbor last year, and he was both friendly and hilarious. I love that he mixes comedy with some serious research in pretty much all of his books. Also, he does Trickster right.
Bernard Cornwell
Also a recent discovery of mine, and I devoured all of his Saxon Stories series within a month. Since historical fiction is my home turf, I would love to meet with someone who does it so well, and takes it so seriously.
Bill Willingham
The author of Fables, my favorite comic book series. Another person that understands and appreciates the nature of stories, and adapts folk and fairy tales in all kinds of awesome ways. I really just want to have a conversation with him about stories over a cup of coffee or something.
He just recently published his second book, but I have been following his blog for years now. Cory is the crazy genius behind Better Myths, a blog that re-tells mythology and legends in ways that will make you laugh until you turn purple. He is also the culprit behind the Internet-famous Norse Crisis Flowchart. My goal is to organize a MythOff one day and invite him as a featured teller.
Planned for the Afterlife:
Mark Twain
Since I have read pretty much every word he's ever written, it would only be fair to finally talk to the guy. Also, I would love to hear some of his mantelpiece bedtime stories.
Michael Ende
My first childhood reading love. Both Momo and The Neverending Story are on my top bookshelf with the classics (and yes, I hated The Neverending Story movies with a passion, because I only saw them after reading the book 10+ times) (also, they are horrible).
Another role model for me. The proof that you can be a female author in historical fiction without having to do "historical romance" all over the place. She deals with some hardcore things in her books, and applies a lot of empathy and subtle humor to Greek history. Her The King Must Die is a masterpiece, and it was hugely responsible for me going into archaeology. Someone should turn it into a movie, like, right about now.
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